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“Good,” I said.

Matt walked across the parking lot and was all
smiles when he saw us. He climbed in the backseat.

“Hey, guys,” he said. He gave Kate a kiss and patted
my back.

“Hey, Matt,” I said.

We drove over to Rosa’s for tacos. Matt seemed
really interested in the visions and the murders and we talked
about them as we ate dinner.

“Hey, I know some homeless guys who hang out in that
area where that girl was killed,” Matt said, digging into the salsa
with a big tortilla chip. “You know, those teenagers who hang
around the river near downtown selling drugs and stuff. Anyway, I
could ask around, see if they have seen anybody suspicious
lately.”

“Great,” Kate said, taking a bite and not looking
over at him.

She rolled her eyes at me. I knew she was wondering
in that exact moment why she was dating someone who had friends who
were homeless drug dealers.

CHAPTER 15

Everything settled down in the weeks before
Christmas, letting us slip back into our somewhat regular lives.
The investigations were still open, but stagnant. I hadn’t had any
more visions and there hadn’t been any more murders in town
either.

The mountain opened early and Jesse was up there
every weekend and even during the week sometimes. He had landed a
part-time job serving burgers and fries, which paid minimum wage
plus a free lift ticket for the winter. He invited me along, but I
didn’t see the point. I couldn’t board anymore and just sitting
around at the lodge would make me think of the things I couldn’t
do, the person I used to be.

I took some jobs that included walking the
neighbor’s dog in the afternoons and gift wrapping at Macy’s. I
didn’t mind them so much. The dog was friendly and Macy’s gave me
good discounts. I worked in the back of the store out of view and
although I occasionally saw a familiar mom or a teacher, it wasn’t
too often. It was also kind of nice to associate with other people
who weren’t part of Bend High, even if the store was filled with
grumpy old women employees complaining about their adult children.
It amounted to just Christmas money, but I was able to buy Jesse
some cool snowboarding goggles, a green Kate Spade leather wallet
for Kate, and an Italian silk tie for Dr. Mortimer.

I hadn’t seen much of Dr. Mortimer lately, but he
still kept in touch through emails and text messages. He always
asked about my recovery and school. He also talked about the insane
hours he worked at the hospital, sometimes not even having one day
off all week. I figured that would help Kate in that he didn’t seem
to have too much time to find a girlfriend.

The local meteorologist predicted that we were
heading for the coldest winter on record. Jesse loved it. Besides
boarding up at the mountain, he could be found flying down inclines
all over town, including the hills at local golf courses.

Even though we hadn’t talked about my new feelings
since that day at the house, I was sure I was still in love with
him. And at least he knew it. I had decided to just let it sit for
a while. I couldn’t take any more rejection, and at least we were
back to being friends. That felt good and for now it was enough.
But I was still hoping that he would be able to forgive me someday
and that we could be together.

Matt was still hanging around, especially at the six
o’clock hour, but I was getting the feeling that Kate was growing a
little tired of him. Most nights she didn’t get home until late and
while I assumed she was probably working, I kind of had my own
hunch about things. Kate was tight lipped, as always when it came
to her personal life, but on Saturday especially I began to wonder
what was really going on. She had left a message saying she was
working late and then would be out for the evening. I had assumed
she would be with Matt.

Jesse and I had gone out to see Blood Thirsty 2 and
I got home late. I had forgotten to leave the lights on and the
house was dark. As I walked up, fumbling for my keys, I saw Matt
sitting on the doorstep, shivering.

“Hey, Abby,” he said. He had a canvas under his arm
and was only wearing his usual long-sleeved striped T-shirt with a
thin down vest. He must have been frozen to the bone. His scraggly
goatee had snow sticking to it.

“Matt! What are you doing out here?”

I opened the door and quickly handed him one of my
coats. He put it on and I turned up the heat high.

“You must be freezing,” I said.

“Yeah, a little,” he said. “It’s cold out
there!”

“Hey, where’s Kate?” I asked. “I thought you guys
were hanging out tonight.”

Matt suddenly looked sad.

“I don’t know. I was hoping she was here, that’s why
I stopped by.”

I realized that Matt probably had been out in front
for hours.

“She canceled earlier, said she was working late. I
went over to her office, but she wasn’t there. I wanted to give her
one of my organic carob muffins that I made this morning.”

He looked around the living room as I turned on
lights and took off my coat.

“But she’s not here either,” he said.

Matt handed me a small foil package. I could only
imagine what germs were festering in the muffin, but I took it
anyway.

“I’ll give it to her,” I said. “Kate’s a workaholic.
I’m sure she is on some huge story. Did you try her cell?”

“Yeah, since the afternoon.”

That told me something right there. I had called her
a little while ago and she picked up right away. What was she up
to?

“Well, here’s the new one. Wanna take a look?” he
said.

I took the canvas from under his arm and leaned it
up against a wall. We studied it for a few minutes, and then
studied it some more. It was very abstract with thick brush strokes
and depressing shades of blacks and grays. I tried to imagine it in
full color, that there were oranges and blues and purples dancing
together, that maybe it was really amazing. Maybe I didn’t get it
because of my color blindness. It probably was much better than how
I saw it.

“Cool,” I said. “Is it the desert at sunset?”

Matt put his hand under his chin and was quiet for a
minute.

“I like to think my art meets the viewer half way.
It presents itself uniquely to each person. So that’s cool if you
see the desert at sunset.”

I smiled. We stood looking at it for a few more
minutes.

“Does it drive you crazy, Abby, not being able to
see colors anymore?” he asked. “I think that would be the worst
thing. Living in a black and white world.”

I shrugged. Matt rarely talked about my accident. In
fact, this was probably the only time. I don’t know if it was his
gentle demeanor or the way he said it as he stared at his painting,
but my stomach didn’t tense like it usually did when someone asked
about it. And I could imagine the idea of not seeing colors would
be horrible if you were an artist.

“It’s not the worst thing,” I said.

He smiled for a moment before grabbing his canvas,
putting it under his arm.

“Hey, wait,” I said as he headed toward the door.
“Did you have dinner? I could make you a sandwich or
something.”

Matt was okay.

CHAPTER 16

The house was dark when I woke up. I walked over to
Kate’s bedroom and saw that her bed was still made. The red alarm
clock on her table said it was 3:33.

Where was she?

As I reached for my cell, it hit. I sat on her bed
and fell back into the soft pillows and was soon drowning in the
lake again, with bubbles shooting upwards, the light disappearing
from above, and that horrible pull at my feet, dragging me down
into nothingness.

But then, like before, I was thrown out of the water
and again, I could breathe. It was night and I was walking through
a neighborhood in my pajamas and bare feet. There were tall pine
trees and houses around, the moon a half crescent. I could see the
stars and I could see my breath in front of me.

A light glowed in the far distance. I walked toward
it and I saw that it was a fire. It was hot, sudden and fierce, and
my heart was racing as sweat dripped down my face. The smell of
smoke filled the air as I stood with a small crowd that had
gathered in front of thick flames that were shooting up into the
black sky.

People talked around me. Nobody saw me. I stood next
to a man, the flames made his face glow. I could feel his emotions
the strongest out of everyone. He was happy and proud as he watched
the fire.

This was his fire.

I stood right next to him, but he didn’t see me. I
could hear him breathe, saw the smirk on his face. Waves of
happiness flooded his body as he stared up into his creation. “This
is mine, this is mine,” he said in his head, over and over again.
It’s so beautiful, he thought.

Sirens blared in the distance. The arsonist looked
in the direction of the fire trucks turning down the street. Three
huge engines pulled up to the house, firemen ran to the blaze.

Then I saw another car pull up behind the
trucks.

Kate.

She wasn’t alone. She was with Dr. Mortimer.

They got out of the car and Kate started talking to
people while Dr. Mortimer stared at the burning house. I shouted
and ran up to her. I was sure she saw me, but she walked past me
and started talking to a woman standing close by. She didn’t see me
at all.

I walked around. The flames were hot, and I was
dripping in sweat. Why was I here? Then I saw it. A darkness in the
trees, still and ominous, close to where we stood. He was there.
The killer.

I walked towards him, saw that the arsonist was in
the woods too and the killer was following him.

I didn’t want to follow anymore, I wanted to run
back to the fire, but I couldn’t. Something was making me watch.
The killer caught up to man, threw something over his head and
after a brief struggle they both fell to the ground.

This time, I screamed. But it didn’t stop him,
didn’t stop anything. The killer was focused, and I knew the
arsonist was dead. I backed away, away from the trees, away from
the splintering wood of the house burning down to ash.

And then I was in Kate’s soft bed again.

Alone.

CHAPTER 17

I was drenched in sweat and started shaking
uncontrollably. I knew I had to get into a hot shower and forced
myself up. It was after 4:00 now and Kate still wasn’t home. The
feeling of the vision lingered, the killer and his darkness, the
arsonist and his pride.

And Kate. Kate had been there. I pulled out my cell
phone and got her voice mail. I could only hope that she was
okay.

I stood under the hot water for a long time warming
up, trying to wash it all off. At least I didn’t have a headache.
When I came out of the bathroom, Kate was there by the door.

“Abby, are you okay?” she asked.

“Yeah,” I said, wrapping my hair in a towel and
pulling my robe tighter. I sat down on my bed and she sat next to
me. “I had another one. What’s happening?”

I started crying. For years I never cried, and now I
always seemed to cry. This wasn’t who I was.

“It’s okay, Abby, it’s okay. I’m here now,” she
said, wrapping a fleece blanket around my shoulders. She smelled
like the thick smoke of the fire.

“You got my message, right? I called earlier but you
didn’t pick up.”

“No, what message? Where have you been?”

“I was on a story,” she said, looking serious. “But
tell me about your vision. Everything.”

“There was a terrible fire.”

“Oh, my God!” she said. “You mean you saw the fire?
There was a big house fire on the south side of town tonight.
That’s where I was! I was covering that story. Tell me what you
saw.”

“I saw you. At the fire. I was right in front of
you, yelling. But you didn’t see me.”

She stared at me with large eyes.

“What? You saw ME in your vision?”

I nodded. I knew it sounded insane.

“This is unbelievable,” she said. “What else?”

I told her everything else. The arsonist. The killer
lurking in the woods. The murder.

“And you’re saying that the killer murdered the man
who started the fire? They didn’t report a body. I just came from
the scene. There were no injuries or fatalities.”

“He’s in the woods somewhere. I followed them. He
killed him and then I started screaming and woke up.”

Kate got up and checked her phone.

“What was Dr. Mortimer doing with you?” I asked. I
had to ask.

Kate looked shocked, then embarrassed.

“Oh, he came along when I got the call. He thought
he could help if there were any victims,” she said. Her cheeks went
a shade darker.

She sat by my computer and leaned back in the chair,
eyes swirling around, thinking and trying to figure it out. I could
tell she didn’t want to discuss Dr. Mortimer, which didn’t surprise
me. I had caught her and she wasn’t expecting that. She wasn’t
ready to tell me anything.

But she saw I was waiting.

“So you saw both of us in your vision?” she said.
“That’s amazing. These visions of yours seem to be getting more and
more detailed.”

“Yeah, I guess,” I said, sighing. I waited another
minute, but she didn’t say anything as she looked at her
messages.

“Kate, it’s not like I’m not happy you’re together,”
I said. She kept fiddling with her phone, ignoring me, or maybe
just thinking. She looked like she was about to call someone.

“Matt dropped by earlier,” I said.

“Matt was here? Shoot,” she said. “He called about a
zillion times tonight. I don’t know what I was thinking, I should
have just called him back. Sorry, Abby, that must have been
uncomfortable. Look, nothing has happened with Dr. Mortimer. Relax.
We were just talking, that’s all. I’m not going to tell Matt that
because he’ll jump to conclusions that aren’t there yet.”